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This time of year is the busiest for mail deliveries; it’s not uncommon to receive the wrong package. On your doorstep is a box that looks like it’s from a completely different era; it is wrapped in brown paper and tied with dark twine. It has scuffs and scrapes and a yellowed name tag--with your name and address on it. There is no return address and no indication where it came from. If you open it up you will find some sort of timeless item that feels as though it is easily decades old. It may not be particularly valuable, but this item seems to have been lost to time--and somehow ended up in your possession. Any time you look at it you are filled with the same sensation of timelessness.
'Deep breath, Nataniel. Just take a deep breath. You can do this,' he tried to convince himself as he sat on the end of his bed, staring at the closed door to his closet and achieving nothing. It always went like this, didn't it? He was sure he wasn't the only one. Everyone probably pushed things off until the last second, when life started to coalesce into a great heaping pile of tasks that would have been easy if done sooner. But now that they'd been procrastinated upon until they couldn't possibly be procrastinated upon any longer, they were tangled and messy. And there were many of them.
He hadn't yet picked out classes for the encroaching semester. He hadn't met with his advisor. He hadn't submitted his application for scholarships and student aid. He hadn't sent in the forms stating that he would like continued use of student housing. He hadn't completed his senior audit to affirm that he would likely still be taking classes next fall. He hadn't even looked at his school email over the holidays, and there could be all manner of warnings and deadlines in there...
And that was all dealing with his civilian studies.
Did he even have the funds to afford this semester? He'd been shirking over the holidays in favor of tending to his Negaverse duties since he'd promised a certain someone that he would help where he could, and they were no closer to solving that issue than he had been when he'd been corrupted four months ago. Nataniel's fingers folded tight against each other, teeth gritting and brows pinching as he stared at the wall. It was during Halloween when he'd been told to meet with another general within the week, and he hadn't done that, either...
'Just. Breathe.'
The woman had told him she would find him if he tried to avoid her, and that hadn't happened, yet, so perhaps that mattered less than the rest of these things that were piled up...
But if all that wasn't enough, his driver's ID was set to expire this week. Just the icing on the cake, really.
Nataniel took another steady breath, raked his hands back through his hair and stood. Everything was fine. It was Monday, so he had time today to tend to at least a handful of his chores. Campus was, of course, just across the street, so if he wanted to dedicate the day to pulling himself out of this hole, the opportunity was readily available. He had to. He had to.
Nataniel moved toward the closet. When he opened the door, he spared a second to be annoyed at how many useless garments he held onto, but that would be a task for another day. He selected a coat in such a deep emerald color that it appeared nearly black, unless in the right lighting and headed for the door. The campus was near enough that he didn't need his keys. It would be an easy task to walk, and he could reward himself with breakfast from the Student Union Building for his efforts.
He opened the front door and looked down.
A box.
Nataniel tipped his head inquisitively. He hadn't ordered anything recently, though he supposed Gabriel might have or maybe December had found something to have shipped here. The box didn't appear to have any shipping labels on it, though. It looked rather plain, even, with brown paper wrapping and simple dark twine. Nataniel didn't know anyone who would hand-deliver something like this. But again, Gabriel might.
He picked up the box and stepped back inside to set it on the counter, but before he could take his hand from it, he spotted the lone tag, adorned with a large scripted 'N' and upon closer inspection, the rest of his name.
It was made out to him.
It seemed severely unlikely that anyone Nataniel knew would just deposit a box in front of his apartment, rather than handing it to him in person. He didn't think many of his friends were that stupid, as if they expected something left unsupervised wouldn't be stolen- Well. Perhaps December was that stupid.
Nat shut the front door and took up a seat on the couch. He delicately unfastened the twine, slipped a finger between the cut edges of the brown paper, and delicately folded the wrapping back. Inside was a small black box with filigree golden edges, much more ornate than Nat would have expected judging from the outside. It was perhaps the length of his hand and just as tall, a perfect cube with a slender lid attached with a small clasp.
This alone wasn't anything he expected to receive, and he certainly didn't know who would send it.
The box was beautiful, though admittedly, he doubted anything inside would be of much use to him...
Nataniel lifted the lid to see the contents. Inside was a black woven band, a single braid of a fabric that shined, and on either end sat a small, golden serpent's head, dotted with amethyst eyes. A tiny chain hung from one end, a small clasp to fasten it to the other side. A bracelet. It looked almost like something his mother would find in her homeland, though Nataniel scarcely imagined her leaving something at his door without trying to speak to him.
Despite the design, he wouldn't be able to call it gaudy. It was sleek and thin, weighing a couple ounces in his hand, at most. The bracelet wasn't ugly, though Nataniel had to admit it wouldn't be anything he picked out, himself. He didn't typically wear jewelry beyond what he kept in his piercings...
But it did remind him of his family, and though he didn't see them often and only rarely answered their calls, that didn't seem like a bad thing.
Perhaps if someone like December saw it, it would make him think of Nataniel, too... Nat sighed softly and folded the band once through his fingers before setting it back in the box. He wasn't particularly thrilled with the holidays, and Nat almost never exchanged presents or participated in celebrations. But if one had been delivered to him through no effort of his own, what was the benefit in ignoring it? Perhaps it was after Christmas, and the time for gift-giving had mostly passed, but that would add to the surprise of it, wouldn't it?
If December liked it, it could only be a good thing.
And that was just another spot of good to help him get through the arduous day ahead.
